Quirian
Quirian was one of the Harbingers. He is a major antagonist of Darkness Rising. Quirian was killed in the Battle of the Morning on the Great Day when Trallten's Hounds defeated the Harbingers (1st Low-Spring, 2,062 H.R.). Lore Written by Jaehrin Relthin, Arch-Mage of Ghien. "WANTED, BY THE ORDER OF THE KING: A short man, slight, with plain brown hair. Strangely, the deep-set hollows of his eyes seem always lost in shadow. His voice is utterly dead and flat; he seems to have no persona at all, and to feel nothing, even when engaged in the most unspeakable of crimes. Perhaps it is a byproduct of his lack of affect, but the only emotion even suggested by his bearing is exhaustion. There seems almost an strange exterior aspect to his movement and deeds, as if he is following another's course of action. When not engaged in a task of import, he seems to default to a senseless, idle cruelty, almost as if under a compulsion." - Proclamation of the Templar Knights. The symbol, drawn by Xenus and given to Harkness, signifies ''emptiness: ''the absence of a self, the absence of agency. Much of the symbol deliberately frames empty space, as if to signify that there is nothing there to interpret or convey. One conclusion that is suggested by the symbol, however, is that it signifies an subservience of essence, in which an object retains its exterior contours but is now a tool wholly in service to another will or purpose. Another aspect of the symbol, very subtly, could indicate abomination or monstrosity, but this is not unequivocal. 'Whatever aristocratic family to which Quirian once belonged can no longer be discerned, at least by my efforts. His past is, strangely, likewise shrouded. It is almost as if it was deliberately consigned to oblivion, or somehow stripped of its meaning. Perhaps somewhere in Tarngeriath there are records of who Quirian was and from where he came, but even the most advanced divination now functions strangely when he is the target. For once, I do not think that this is the result of protective wards of Soul Channel magics; more likely, it no longer matters. The vision you witnessed in the Keyhole tells a simple but very terrible story. If Rathick and Adrienne both accepted their inferior status in order to secure places at Maynard's side, Rathick as a trusted guide from above and Adrienne as a critical executor from below, Quirian refused to concede the title of First of Twelve. As he was of an age with Maynard, and was the only other of the Harbingers to also be a wizard (as we say in Ghien, "of the book"), it must have seemed to him still an open contest. And yet day after day and week after week, despite all that he did, it was Maynard that proved the greater. Therefore, he went to the yugoloths, who played -so easily!- upon his desperation to check Maynard's growing power: Quirian secured their promise that he would be given access to their darkest secrets, and lifted up as high as it was possible to rise. All that he had to give in return was his soul. Once it was lost, of course, the sheer magnitude of his folly was made clear, for the yugoloths had already given their support to Maynard and bestowed upon him legitimacy in their own unthinkable schemes for the multiverse. As a result, "as high as it was possible to rise" was now for Quirian to be an extension of Maynard that served only to realize the First's destiny. With your own eyes you have seen that Maynard now views Quirian with a mixture of pity and discomfort. Yet Maynard has made great use of the soulless one, for as a tool he is invaluable: above all, Quirian served as a direct conduit to the yugoloths, and all of their considerable scheming and resources could be channeled to Maynard through Quirian. It seems quite likely that Quirian, perhaps with the guidance of the yugoloths, was central to the entire project of the Harbingers' Grasp, for he features prominently in both its history and many of its most devastating aspects. Employing his skills as an artificer, Quirian built the Golem Foundry and the Shadow Forge there to Maynard's exact specifications, and used the latter to churn out artifacts almost beyond measure. When Maynard departed to press his major offensives, Qurian commanded the Harbingers' Grasp itself in his absence, and indeed when you assaulted that mighty fortress it was Quirian who filled it with bound outsiders and negotiated pacts to hurl them against you. Quirian likewise rallied the black orcs, beasts, and constructs within to bar your way. Finally, as you witnessed in many visions before you traveled to Asdathaa, Quirian was also the primary devastator of that land, leading Maynard's forces over and over again to slaughter the lizardfolk and extend his control over the region. The piles of slain lizardfolk warriors, and the many miles of verdant swamp-forest reduced to ash-plain, bore witness to Quirian's passing. With no soul, Quirian also served as the foulest possible torturer. In a seeing, you witnessed him attempting to extract information about your own party from unfortunate lizardfolk, and it seems likely that such a process brought the Harbingers much of their knowledge of Asdathaa. Yet they were not his only victims in this regard. I detest the pain that I no doubt cause by reminding you, but it was Quirian's hands you witnessed torturing Enlin, in your first ever seeing in Idingast's stone. I hope that you can bring your friend's shade the gift of justice. Still, I am wary. The exact effects that his soullessness will have when you confront him are unknown, even to me. Additionally I wonder: what is Quirian's endgame in the plots of the yugoloths? His pact with them, of course, is inked upon some unfortunate soul's skin, deep in the bowels of the Tower Arcane, and his soul glimmers darkly within a dangling crystal prism in the Gardens of Grief. But will it stay there? Statistics '''Quirian: '''Male human Wiz20; CR 20; Medium humanoid (human); HD 20d4+40; hp 91; Init +5; Spd 30 ft.; AC 28, touch 20, flat-footed 23; Base Atk +10; Grp +10; Atk +15 melee (1d6+5, quarterstaff) or +20 ranged (1d10+5/19-20, heavy crossbow); Full Atk +15/+10 melee (1d6+5, quarterstaff) or +20 ranged (1d10+5/19-20, heavy crossbow); SA summon familiar; SQ soulless; Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; AL NE; SV Fort +18, Ref +19, Will +22; Str 10, Dex 20, Con 15, Int 31, Wis 18, Cha 8. ''Skills and Feats'': Concentration +25, Decipher Script +33, Gather Information +1, Diplomacy +1, Knowledge (arcana) +33, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) +33, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +33, Knowledge (geography) +33, Knowledge (history) +33, Knowledge (local) +33, Knowledge (nature) +33, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +33, Knowledge (religion) +33, Knowledge (the planes) +33, Spellcraft +35; Brew Potion, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Forge Ring, Great Fortitude, Greater Spell Focus (necromancy), Greater Spell Penetration, Lightning Reflexes, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (necromancy), Spell Penetration. '''Soulless: '''Quirian has no soul. This has a wide variety of potential game effects. Quirian is not vulnerable to any spell that requires the target to have a soul, or that only affects mortals. Quirian cannot be ''raised ''or resurrected without access to his soul. Additionally, Quirian is immune to all morale-affecting spells and effects unless they originate from the interests that control his soul. ''Spells Prepared (4/7/7/6/6/6/6/5/5/5; save DC 20 + spell level, or 22 + spell level for necromancy):' 0- detect magic ''(2), ''read magic ''(2); 1- ''expeditious retreat, ray of enfeeblement, magic missile ''(2), true strike, shield, enlarge person; 2- ''mirror image, protection from arrows, false life, Lahm’s finger darts; 3- haste, rage, magic circle against good, blink (3); 4- fire shield, stoneskin ''(5); 5 - ''mind fog ''(2), feeblemind, resonating resistance, break enchantment (2); 6- ''greater dispel magic, geas, disintegrate ''(3), ''flesh to stone; ''7- ''finger of death, waves of exhaustion, project image, whirlwind of teeth, greater teleport; ''8- ''iron body, gutwrench, soul’s treasure lost, protection from spells, horrid wilting; ''9- ''wish, time stop, energy drain, wail of the banshee, soul bind. ''Spellbook: contains all nongood arcane spells. 'Possessions:' ''Bracers of armor +8, ''100 bolts, ''cloak of resistance +5, gloves of dexterity +6, headband of intellect +6, periapt of wisdom +6, ''Hahn (rat familiar), ''hand of the mage, +5 heavy crossbow, orange ioun stone, pink ioun stone, +5 quarterstaff, robe of stars, ring of evasion, ring of friend shield, ring of protection +5, scrolls of resist energy (20), fly ''(7), ''displacement ''(7), ''protection from energy ''(20), ''dimension door, greater invisibility ''(7), ''telepathic bond, greater dispel magic ''(3), cat’s grace, mass bull’s strength, mass bear’s endurance'', mass owl’s wisdom, mass fox’s cunning, mass eagle’s splendor, globe of invulnerability ''(3), ''true seeing ''(7), finger of death (2), ''spell turning ''(3), banishment (3), greater arcane sight (3), ''symbol of weakness, scintillating pattern ''(2), ''moment of prescience, dimensional lock, mind blank (7), antipathy ''(2), energy drain (2), mass hold monster'', dominate monster ''(2), ''soul bind ''(3), ''gate, freedom, ''and ''foresight ''(3), ''spellbook from the Tower Arcane, winged boots. Category:Human Category:Tarngeriath Category:Neutral Evil Category:Wizard Category:Deceased Category:Character